bcc: Ken wants to look at the first reference. John may

> Consider a helicopter hovering in otherwise still air. We can all
> agree there is a net downdraft, yes?
Those that paid attention in physics class or ever stood underneath a
hovering helicopter certainly should.
> I don't see it as too difficult to consider the wing of a plane to be
> a big linear fan blade doing essentially the same thing.
Not too difficult because it is.  Usually helicopter blades are described a=
s
rotating wings, but the reverse works too.

________

The book or web version of the book has a nice photo of an aeroplane (Cessn=
a
Jet) heading towards the camera & flying slightly above a cloud base. It ha=
s
"blown" a large slot into the cloud from its downdraft  and there are nice
swirly bits along the edge from the wingtip vortices.

Have a look at the web subset I posted that provides  a good summary of wha=
t
has been being talked about. Taught me things about wind turbine blades in
just skimming it :-).

Useful subset of book here

                 http://bit.ly/UnderstandingFlight

I found that standing as close as they would let me (=3D surprisingly close
considering) under a slowly ascending harrier was a much less windy
experience than I had expected. And vastly noisier.




            Russell


> <
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=3Dt&tn=3Dunderstanding+fl=
ight&x=3D0&y=3D0
>
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